Waking up bleary eyed the next day, our mouths taste like dry Toads and the room smells of Peach. But that won’t stop us going to Mario’s for another party, with so much to do if he threw a party every day of the week we still wouldn’t get ‘board’.

A brilliant game. Even though at no point is the Terran Empire playable, the Virons and their unique melding technology (two units can be ‘melded’ together to create a different unit) makes up for this loss by adding a new level to the strategy.

For newcomers, what you’re getting is the ultimate vision of the best game from the 90’s.

A special mention must also go to the Minicons, which provide for a lot more variation than expected, offering all manner of power ups and, when you’ve amassed a few to select from, allow you to gear yourself up more for a specific mission with the resultant tactical depth a welcome bonus to what is essentially another third person shoot ‘em up.

The story is nothing short of fantastic and it’s worth noting that this being the last Kain game under the direction of Amy Hennig (who is off to create games for Jak and Daxter developer Naughty Dog), she has really gone out with a bang.

There are downsides to the game, though, the biggest of which being the absence of any form of multiplayer.

Breathtaking attention to detail served with great graphics that'll run on anyone's system all make it highly commendable. The game provides a lot of intensely focused carnage, but absolutely nothing else, and that wasn't quite enough to keep us entertained for it's whole duration.

The play is original and refreshing in comparison to other generic sports titles, the controls are well designed and easy to use. The play style works in this RTS format: however, timed moves are provided for those more frantic times of play.

It offers a challenge to the experienced gamer that is second to none, and a level of innovation that, while undeserving of its boastful slogan "Real Time Strategy Reborn", could certainly reinvigorate a genre where something truly new and unique is so very hard to come by.

Definitely the best Onimusha title so far, based on a purely aesthetic level.

With simplistic controls, the fluidity of the gameplay is neigh-on faultless, something that has manifested itself in the success of the team system in the game itself, which in itself gives the game more depth than it would otherwise have enjoyed.

These games really are the pinnacle of strategic warfare, and anybody of this bent who hasn’t already visited really should give the Combat Mission Anthology a shot. Sure, the complexity will be too much for many, but persevere and there’s a wealth of intelligent fun to be had here.

Arena Wars is multiplayer RTS streamlined and polished to perfection. It looks good, it plays great and it has the potential to be a lot more than just a cult classic.

Tough, punishing and as unreliable as the timer on a second hand VCR, there’s an experience hidden beneath the lush foliage and 100 different types of weapons that’s hopefully the first of many to revolutionise the RTS.

Harvest Moon is hugely addictive and will almost certainly have you playing for hours on end when you only expected to fill that blank half-an-hour in your schedule.

Not as good as either of the first two games...What it is, is a rather decent homage to the greatest stealth game ever made, which does a reasonable job of recapturing the ethos and style, and a great job of recapturing the gameplay of the game we all fell in love with.

If you want a great looking tennis game that offers more than just quick and simple play, Pro Tournament 2 offers almost enough to keep you going until next summer, when doubtless we’ll all go tennis mad again. Now leave us alone: Wimbledon’s on.

Every choice you make during play makes a significant difference to how the mission plays out, whether it's which weapons to use or which sandbank to take cover behind, and the only real problem is that the game seems to lack a certain spark of inspiration.

It’s uncomplicated, enjoyable and unashamedly action-packed: this is for gamers who don’t know exactly what they want. If they want meat, they’ll have chicken; if they want a drink, they’ll have lager; if they want a strategy game, they’ll have something good looking, easy to get into and more fun than a drunken weekend with Kiera Knightley.

Certainly, the only other drawback is the lack of a hard drive for the PS2 version, which would have been ideal for storing copious amounts of tunes, but we can’t hold Codies responsible for that one.

The faultless execution of the courses is also of note. Even though they’re all ovals, each one brings its own challenge - be it smoothness of the surface, the camber of the surface, the length of the course or the diameter of the track, all the courses have in common is the fact they’re ovals and that the racing is so close around them.

It's just about as good as anything else on the format at the moment and with the addition of the awesome Pacman Vs. (a contender for best multiplayer game on the Cube) bundled in for free, at least Namco have given the Cube faithful the best value for money of all the versions.

Continued innovation combined with respect for the series’ heritage means Solid Snake fans have yet more hours to wile away in Kojima’s land of deception and false-truths, but many are likely to be left scratching their heads at an even more frequent rate than at the release of Sons of Liberty four years ago.

What it lacks in finesse and refinement it makes up for in its relentless pace and continuous blasting lunacy. It won’t be the sort of game you’ll be telling your grandkids about in years to come, but it does the job and for its bargain price.

The enemy's endless determination to take you out (the A.I's strong point) balanced with the direct and simple nature of play results in a polished and genuinely enthralling experience. Always at the heart of the game is a determination to be fun.

It's Freedom Force, basically, but with a bit of spit and polish. It wouldn't be unfair to say this could've retailed as an expansion pack, except for the fact virtually no-one bought the first game.

Its stylish looks, its innovative control and demented sense of humour make for a game that’s not only a complete joy to play, but also the first title for Nintendo’s newest console to actually use the touch-screen the way it was intended.

Looks gorgeous and its gameplay is intense and ambitious. There are just enough new features to justify its massive hype, giving fans of the series many reasons to be excited. But it is not yet the finished article.